The biography of Marjane Satrapi is the focus of this paper. The author’s biography shades light on the lives of Islamic women governed by their religious and cultural norms and the role of the men in the same. Satrapi’s work depicts the life of a Muslim woman and the expectations the society has with regard to the female gender. Gender inequality is an important matter as it inhibits people of a certain gender from basic rights, thus subjecting them to a prejudiced life. Inequality that favors the men affects the society at different levels because the aforementioned restrictions hinder personal and communal development. Alongside the work of Satrapi, is an analysis of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” that provides the author’s ideologies on male chauvinism. Both works give insight to the personal feelings of women whom societies fail to notice as they give priority to the men. This inquiry paper seeks to identify the portrayal of freedom for women and power among the characters in both stories while focusing on the first two panels in Satrapi’s novel.
Satrapi Marjane’s “Persepolis” is a personal narrative of the author’s life as she is exposed to different cultures. From leaving her home prior the Islamic revolution of 1978 to 1979 (Satrapi 2), living in Europe, and finally moving back to Iran her home country (Satrapi 3), Satrapi undergoes multiple forms of culture shock and discrimination. Her narration provides the needed diversity in the identification of the personal feelings among women living conservative lives as Muslims. In addition, Satrapi’s ability to narrate and illustrate scenarios in which her vulnerability is most evident offers the needed cementing for this paper’s arguments.
On the other hand, Gilman Perkins Charlotte’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” revolves around the life of an unknown female character that, due to a psychological disorder, is locked up in her room by the men in her life. In turn, the author uses the protagonist’s woes to inform readers on the forms of oppression women face at the household and societal levels. As the book is written from the main female character’s perspective, Gilman presents gender inequality while focusing on its effects on the victims of the same.
Both narrations portray the restrictions imposed on women by the societies in which they live. The first panel in the story, dubbed “This is me when I was 10 years old this is in 1980” (Satrapi, 3), shows the protagonist sitting alone with a veil covering her head securely. As Iran is an Islamic state, the cultural tendency of having women cover their hair whilst in public is in the norm. Satrapi attests to the importance of the veil because 1980 was “the year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school” (3). The wearing of the veil is obligatory as none of the girls is consulted regarding the issue. Men do not have to wear the veil, a fact that allows readers to understand men are given more power. Satrapi clearly shares the same views as she clearly depicts girls wearing said veils. In the “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the presented forms of restriction find basis in the societal ideologies that portray women as weak. For instance, the unknown central character is forced by her husband and brother to remain in her room with no chance of seeing the outside world (Gilman, 2). Societal participation in the woman’s confinement find basis in the fact that, nobody comes to the house asking of her whereabouts. Since she is not allowed to leave the house, it is more than plausible that close friends and the aforementioned neighbors noticed her disappearance. However, since they know the woman’s husband is in charge, all assume everything is fine within the household although it is the opposite. Hence, the authors of both texts present the women’s place in societal hierarchies that place the views of men above those of their female counterparts. A fact that is also confusing to the lead characters as they are forced to follow unfavorable ideologies.
Satrapi’s deviation from the Islamic culture is evident from her young age. Satrapi’s life explains her inability to conform to the restrictions of the veil. As she is born into a family that is “very modern and avant-garde” (Satrapi 6) the young girl does not understand why men and women are different in the eyes of the society. The second panel shows the narrator’s friends in class. Satrapi is “sitting on the far left so you” cannot see her (Satrapi 3). Her seclusion from the rest of the girls in the picture confirms her seclusion from the ideologies of the other women who opt to accept societal definitions of the female gender. Gilman’s narration also carries a theme of defiance as the woman looks for ways of escape. As stated before, the woman is forced into solitude without any interaction with the outside world. However, because she fails to understand her husband’s reasons for confining her in the room, she seeks ways to get free. In fact, as the novel concludes, the woman has done the exact opposite of her husband’s wishes. A good instance is when she says, “I've got out at last," said I”, in spite of you and Jane? And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!” (Gilman 32) and the husband faints. The man’s efforts were fruitless and his wife has lost her reasoning. It is clear that both women refuse the societal oppression and show their defiance with respect to their surroundings.
Finally, yet importantly, the main characters in both texts are aware of the cultural and religious constraints placed on the female gender. For instance, Gilman’s lead character has no voice in her life as her husband dictates everything in the household and her health (The Yellow Wallpaper). It is safe to assume that it is the older women who are aware of the culture’s control over the female gender. Young girls are however unable to comprehend the extent at which society takes the inferior roles of women seriously. For instance, Satrapi narrates how the girls would play with their veils (3) an act that is shunned upon by the Islamic religion. However, it is important to note given the position in which Gilman’s protagonist finds herself and the societal practices recorded in each novels. Said importance finds basis in the ideology that, the young girls will eventually grow into their societal defined roles and accept them as the cultural norms.
Conclusively, the biography of Satrapi revolves around the theme of freedom and the need for women to escape societal constraints. For instance, Gilman’s character has a husband who is a physician. By being a man, the husband is already on a higher pedestal in the eyes of the community, and his practicing medicine seals his wife’s fate to be beneath him at all levels pertaining to their marriage. Consequently, gender inequality and the tendency to concentrate on the intellectual empowerment of the men allocate more authority to the male gender. However, Satrapi portrays girls sitting in class and perhaps learning in the second panel. A keen observer can see that the girls pay little to no attention to whomever is teaching. In addition, if the educators of the girls were serious in providing knowledge to the lot, the girls would not be so playful. With such factors in mind, it is safe to argue that knowledge is not taken seriously when it is given to the female gender as evidenced in Satrapi’s novel. However, it is of high quality when it includes the men, hence producing doctors, such as Gilman’s lead male character. Therefore, the portrayal of freedom for women and power among the characters in both stories depends solely on the men. Each society gives a higher regard to the male gender, which in turn, is responsible for the women in their lives.
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Carlifonia: Simon & Brown , 2011. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books, 2007. Print.
